Homecoming
by GirlWhoLovesFanfiction
Summary: Alucard returns after nearly six years of near endless violence to find something, or someone, much more peaceful waiting for him.


**Lol, 30 years is too long. Let's make it almost 6.**

Alucard thumbed a photograph lightly, lips pressed together tightly to a thin line. A moment of silence reigned as Integra watched his red eyes flick all over the still shot, committing the face inside the small rectangle to memory. Soon, they stilled, and seemed to glaze over as he thought.

Warm hands encircled his forearm. Alucard looked up, stunned, at Integra. "Would you like to meet her?" she asked.

He was silent once more, but nodded.

"Alright," Integra said. "When the sun rises. Let her sleep."

Both glanced at the grandfather clock propped up against the far wall. Two hours.

"Will you be there?" Alucard asked. His gaze had turned back to the photograph.

She shook her head. "I will be in my office. This will be your conversation. I will be there for the aftermath."

"But what shall I tell her?"

Integra fixed him with a sharp, but not entirely cold, gaze. "The truth.''

0o0

A five-year old girl awoke that morning with the strange sense that _something_ was different. The world, the balance of things which kept reality in order, had shifted- drastically. As the red sun peaked shyly over the horizon, and her sleep-crusted blue eyes adjusted to the conscious world, a chill settled over her that seemed to have nothing at all to do with the temperature of the room, which itself was rather cozy. It was similar to the way the world felt when one awoke much earlier in the morning in preparation for some monumental event, like a wedding or a funeral. Something about this feeling, however, felt dangerous.

She had expected that this was nothing; that it was pure childish fantasy. So, when there came a sudden polite rapping at her door, she was taken aback. The house servants normally left her door alone unless there was some urgent matter that could not otherwise be made known without disrupting her. "Come in," she called uneasily, sitting upright.

It took her three seconds to comprehend that she had just granted a vampire access to her room. The doorknob had been turned almost gingerly, and when the door had finally swung open enough to reveal the man behind it, the red eyes that arrested hers were far too fiery to be considered a mere abnormality. The scarce training she had received from her mother regarding how to deal with such creatures came rushing back into her brain in the next instant: someone had invited a strange vampire into their home.

Her first instinct was to scream- for Seras, for her mother, for _anyone_ better suited for fighting such a monster. Normally, unexpected visitors to the Hellsing manor were hostile. Vampires, especially. The first lesson she had ever learned regarding the supernatural creatures was that they were monsters, and most, given the chance, would rip her to pieces. If she cried out for help, help would come for her too late. Her best chance was to wait- either for a chance to escape, attack, or find someone who could save her.

There was a moment's pause as his hellish eyes landed on her. A thousand unreadable emotions flickered in his face as he gazed at her, but strangely, not one of them seemed evil.

He lowered his hand from the doorknob, but remained fixed in his spot, unnaturally still. There was almost a look of quiet awe on his face. "Good morning," he murmured. Though his voice was soft, it reminded her of the sure, deep beating of an old war drum. There was a little trace of a rough accent to his tone, but she could not quite place it.

Thankfully, for now, it seemed that all he wanted to do was speak. Why else would he have knocked? Though this was not entirely reassuring, she thought that until that changed, she would do well to be polite. She held no illusions of being able to slay, or even hinder, such a monster. For her best chance at survival, she would be careful not to vex him. "Good morning," she responded, warily. "May I ask who you are?"

"I…" He paused, almost uncertain. "I am called Alucard. The first resident vampire."

The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She had heard tales about him; from the mercenaries of the Wild Geese that had seen first-hand the destruction the vampire named Alucard caused; from Seras, who spoke of his incredible powers with reverence; from her mother, who had taught her that on the day that he had disappeared, the seal which bound him to the Hellsing family had broken, and that his last vow as a servant was that he would return.

Her father.

"Oh," she said, though her eyes flickered to the space in the doorway not blocked by the vampire. "You're... alive."

"A touch less dead than you were expecting, eh?" Alucard asked, lips twitching a bit though he did not quite manage a smile.

There was an awkward silence as questions buzzed around in her skull like an angry wasp's nest. _How are you alive, why is mother not here, why is Seras not here,_ "W-Why are you seeing me, then? Wouldn't you want to talk to my mother?"

"I had a very long discussion with her before I came to see you," Alucard said. She tried looking into his eyes as he spoke, but found that they were much too piercing to stare at for too long. Her gaze flicked to a spot between his eyebrows instead, thinking that perhaps he would believe she wasn't looking away out of nervousness. "I came here because introductions are in order. I hope you don't mind my barging in so soon after you woke."

She blinked. He really did seem genuinely happy to see her, oddly enough. And he had apologized?

"I was eager to see you in person," he explained. "It's really not every day you find out you have a daughter."

Her heart skipped a beat. "You… You know?"

"I know," Alucard said. There was a small, soft smile on his face. "Even if Integra hadn't told me, I really don't think it would take me long to connect the dots."

Her fingers tightening on her bedsheets. Here it was: the thing she had wanted so desperately for as long as she could remember and the thing she dreaded most. The king of vampires had acknowledged the fact that they shared blood.

"Do you…" she took a fortifying breath, "…want a daughter?"

Understanding seemed to dawn on him. "I do," he answered, without delay. "Perhaps I had never even thought such a thing was _possible_ , but for more years than you could fathom I missed being able to have a family."

She pressed her lips together tightly, in an expression that very much resembled Integra's face when she tried to conceal her emotions. "But don't you want to leave? Mum told me that the seal keeping you here broke when you left."

Alucard's face softened. "May I come in and sit beside you before I answer? I will stay where I am if you wish, but I'd like to speak to you without such a distance."

Her heart nearly leapt to her throat. It was nerve-wracking, the idea of having such a strange, dangerous creature come any closer. But at the same time, he really did seem to have good intentions. If he did not, she doubted she would have survived so long.

She gave a small, shaky nod. As he came forward, it suddenly dawned on her how incredibly daunting his stature truly was. She imagined that if they stood side to side, she would only reach his hip. As he perched on the edge of her bed, she scooted to the far other end and curled her knees up to her chest, eyeing him warily. At this closer range, she realized that his eyes did not simply reflect light in a red hue; they literally glowed under the dark fringe of his hair.

"Thank you," he said, dipping his head in acknowledgment. "Now, in return, I'll tell you a secret of mine. It was not, nor was it ever, the seals on my power that caused me to stay here. And if I am being quite frank, had I truly wanted my freedom, the magic was never strong enough to keep me truly captive. I have always, always been powerful enough to break away and wreak all sorts of havoc upon London's- or even the world's- populace, if I so chose. I stayed because I admired the Hellsings whom I called my masters, and later I stayed also because I realized that I had fallen in love with Integra."

"Then why did you leave?" She demanded, before swiftly clamping a hand over her mouth when she realized what she had said. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude-"

"No," Alucard interrupted, raising one hand in a halting gesture. When she flinched, he recoiled slightly, slowly lowering it in shame. "Your anger is just. Even if it were not, you don't need to be afraid of me. I left because I was poisoned. There was a weapon Millennium used that… dragged me into a world of monsters- something you might think was Hell. I was poisoned, and taken to that place, and I had to fight my way out of it to be here now."

"You went to Hell?" she breathed, eyes rounding.

Alucard looked up and smiled, just a bit, at her. "I went somewhere that many would confuse with Hell."

"Were you scared? What… What was it like?"

He paused. "I wasn't scared; I've had a long time to accept my fate. I was sad, lonely, and perhaps a little relieved, because I have lived for a very, very long time, and I had grown very, very tired because of that. But then I realized that there was a way for me to come back, and so I did. Your mother had ordered me not to disappear, after all: though it took nearly six years, I obeyed. I'm glad that I did, too, because never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought that you would be here waiting for me when I got back."

At his words, she slowly uncrossed her arms over her knees and inched closer to him. Under his gaze, she timidly reached out and lightly touched his shoulder, as if to see if he were truly real. "You won't leave again?" she asked.

Briefly, his expression twisted into such agony she wondered if she had somehow hurt him and if she should apologize for asking that question. Alucard reached for her hand and held it in his own, grip gentle but strong. "Never," he murmured.

As he watched, her face slowly began to redden, and her eyes grew damp. It appeared that she was battling herself in an attempt to conceal her emotions from him, for as quickly as her lips began to quiver, she tried to turn away and use her hair to cover her expression. But he had caught the pain in her eyes just before she did, and it struck a deep chord to see such a sweet face so heartbroken.

There was a small shift to her right and she felt her hair being tucked behind her ear. "My darling girl," Alucard murmured softly. "Why do you cry? I didn't mean to upset you."

She looked up at him, eyes puffy and cheeks streaked with tears, and Alucard again felt a deep ache in his heart. In the next instant, she leapt at him and wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face in his chest. It took Alucard a second or two to process what had happened, but after his spell of shock brought his arms around her and rested his chin atop her head.

"I-I don't even know if this is real," she sobbed into his shirt. "I can't believe you're really here, that you mean it- I feel like this is another dream, and when I wake up you'll be gone again."

Alucard's grip tightened around her just a fraction. His jaw clenched as once again, the regret of disobeying Integra's final order washed over him. "Then I will give you my vow; and know that I have never in my five hundred and three score years broken one. I am here, Regina Fairbrook Victoria Hellsing, and I will never abandon you."

She sniffed. "Even if you don't like me?"

Alucard laughed deeply, a genuine smile gracing his lips. "I really don't think that's possible."

Slowly, she disentangled herself from his arms so that she could look at him a bit more closely now. Somehow, his red eyes didn't look scary at all anymore. They looked more like a warm sunrise; peaceful, convivial. "You're… a lot nicer than I thought you would be," Regina admitted.

He arched one eyebrow and reached out with his thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Oh, of that, I have no doubt. There must be many stories filling your head now, telling you about how I should act."

"So… they're not true?"

There was a noticeable twinge of hope in her voice. Alucard's smile disappeared, though he didn't seem vexed. If anything, he seemed a bit resigned. "Let's make our judgments based upon what we see, and not what we hear, alright? Can you do that for me?"

She hesitated, but gave him a solemn nod. Alucard smiled once again, and it suddenly became very clear to Regina that he truly was fond of her. "Why don't you and I head over to Integra's office? She said we need…" here, there was a not-so-subtle twitch to his lips, "…to have a family meeting."

Regina brightened, and had Alucard's heart still beat, it would have thudded at the way her big blue eyes shone in the early morning light.

0o0

She was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Her fear of him had at first been so pungent, it had almost hung in the room like smog. And he was thankful, so thankful now that he had convinced her that he was not the sort of monster she perceived. She was Integra's offspring, there was no doubt about it. So abnormally rational, so very skilled at asking the important questions. And yet it was also _his_ blood too, coursing through her veins; it was _his_ raven hair flowing at her waist as she walked, _his_ physique. Integra had been rather angular as a child, just as he had, but he had always been on the more petite side when he was younger (which changed when he matured and was forced to fight older, more experienced soldiers).

That smile, though, was her own. There was no mistaking that deep, genuine delight that burst from her warm heart and enraptured the world with its lightness. That didn't come from either her parents, for the world had taught them that they should keep such a thing jealously guarded behind a wall of iron. It was a rare, rare instance he saw such a pure thing, and it seemed now to him that he was seeing it every few seconds.

There was a little dimple she got on her right cheek when she smiled, too. She had that dimple now. "I take piano lessons, and I also like to do ballet, and I have three best friends in my classes named Angel, Stacy, and Lottie, and I like Henry, too, but sometimes he's annoying because he teases me a lot and Mum and Seras both say it's because he likes me, but I think it's silly. If I like someone, I won't be mean to them."

"Young boys often don't know how to act," Alucard said. "Don't let him get away with it, though."

Her brow set in determination. "I won't."

 _Ah, she's cute._ _I imagine she'll have quite a few suitors over the years- though I don't think the ineligible ones will be too great an issue, especially if_ I _have anything to say about it._

"How did you and Mum meet? I've asked her before, but all she says is that it was by fate."

Alucard smirked. _Oh, Countess. Fate indeed. If it was, Fate has a rather wicked sense of humor._ "We'll leave it at that, for now."

Her nose scrunched. "Well, could you tell me why you served Hellsings? How did that happen?"

It was at this moment that Alucard considered a harsh reality: his daughter would not get to truly know him until a few more years had passed. There were secrets he had which he normally did not keep that he would have to be certain to keep from her. Almost everything she asked him, in fact, beginning with "how" and pertaining to him.

 _How_ many people had he killed? More than a five-year-old should- or probably even _would_ \- know. _How_ had he met Integra? Through a coup set up by her own uncle- which added to the previous list of people he had killed. _How_ had he come to serve her? Through a history of slaughtering finally met with righteous justice. _How_ had he become a vampire?

Well. That last one, he would perhaps never answer. That was a secret only known to Integra and Seras.

"A long time ago, I decided to move from my homeland to England. At that time, I was a vampire, and I was not as…" _Civilized? Do go on, 'Zamiel',_ "…careful as I am now." Before Regina could ask just what the hell he could mean by "careful", he quickly continued. "When I came to England, a man by the name of Abraham Van Helsing realized that I was a danger to society- which I was, in fairness- and sought to fix that."

She looked up at him for a long time. "So… you hurt people? And my great-grandfather wanted to… kill you?"

Alucard opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again as he realized that she had pretty much hit the nail on the head. "I was different, back then."

 _Liar, liar, pants on fire._

Slowly, Regina released his hand. They had stopped walking. "You're not like Seras."

Her heart was beating quickly, and she was giving him some more distance. He suddenly realized just why it was that she had been so able to overcome her earlier fear. She had thought that he would have Seras's very human penchant for only taking lives when necessary- that he only rarely (if ever) took blood, and never from someone unwilling.

"I am not," Alucard agreed, calmly. Perhaps she was too sharp for her own good. This was the verbal equivalent of tiptoeing through a field of landmines. "That does not make me like the other vampires you've heard about."

She stilled, but only a fraction. "Well, what are you, then? A good vampire or a bad one?"

He smiled. If only things were ever that simple. "To you, my dear, I am good."

"But you weren't- aren't- always?"

"That would depend upon who you asked."

She scowled. "I'll never get a straight answer from you, will I?"

"Difficult questions will receive difficult answers." At her loud groan of annoyance, Alucard chuckled. "You'll understand, in time. For right now, I will not be able to give you my whole narrative. Certain things are best suited for being learned later."

"Because I'm not smart enough?"

"Because you are not wise enough." Alucard knelt to her level and beckoned her to come nearer. She did, though her frown remained. "Wisdom is gained through experience, and experience is gained through time. You are an exceptionally bright girl, Regina Hellsing. You will likely know all there is about me and my history sooner rather than later. But that day simply is not today."

"When will I get to know who you are?"

Alucard paused, and there was just a whisper of sadness in the way he smiled at her. "If you pay enough attention, soon enough. But you should know, no matter what you may find out or hear about me, that I will always be on your side."

She examined him, and he could see in her eyes as she did that she was still not fully convinced. "Sometimes, I forget that Seras is a vampire," she admitted suddenly. He resisted the urge to tell her that he thought the same thing. "If it weren't for the shadows, her eyes, and her teeth, if I didn't know her I would think she was a human. But I… I don't think I would say the same about you, if I didn't know you- and you sort of look more human than her."

"Why wouldn't you be able to say the same?"

She looked down to her feet. "Because you're so still, and you don't talk like a human. It's like you've thought for hours what you are going to say before you say it. And it always feels like you say one thing, but you mean something else entirely at the same time. It's the same thing for whenever you move- like it's all practiced somehow, even though that's not really possible."

Alucard raised one eyebrow, then gently brought her chin up so that she could look at him. "You know, I _am_ nearly six hundred years old, and have been dead for five and a half centuries. Seras is in her mid-twenties and has been dead for five years. If I still behaved entirely like a normal human, that would mean there was something very, very wrong with me."

It would take him a while to relearn human mannerisms. For her sake, he would at least try.

"Am I going to be a vampire, too?"

His eyes rounded.

" _What?"_

"You're a vampire, and Mum is a human. If I'm a human now, does that mean I'll be a vampire later, if one of my parents is one? Am I one now?"

Alucard calmed. "Oh no, my dear. You're entirely human, and you will stay that way."

"But… why? How come I was born?"

 _Well, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very very much… Ah, but even_ I _can't say for certain, in this case._ "The only thing that I know is that you came about in the way that many other children do; because your parents love one another. I can only guess as to how it is possible that a vampire and a human could create a life."

She frowned, her eyes downcast. "…Was I mistake?"

"Absolutely not," was Alucard's immediate answer. "Why on Earth would you think that?"

She clutched one arm in her hand, still avoiding eye contact. He had noticed that this was occurring quite frequently, her looking away. Was she trying to avoid judgment? "I dunno," she mumbled.

"Regina," he said. "Look up and answer me."

There it was, that nervous pattering in her heartbeat. "Uh… um… can I not?"

Alucard's brow furrowed in confusion. "Alright, now you have to tell me why you're avoiding looking at my face. Am I ugly or something?"

That brought out a surprised giggle from her, but she quickly smothered it. "Ah, no, it's just… I don't want you to hypnotize me or read my mind. And if you did that… you'd be disappointed in me."

Oh.

"Well, I don't want you to think I'm evil," Alucard said, and this answer surprised her enough to look up for just the briefest of moments. "But I care enough about you to be honest, and that means that I've been telling you the truth- about my past, about what I am. If I wanted, I could appear to you as a normal human- with normal eyes, teeth, and even tan skin. But I don't hide, because I trust that you'll realize that I am very, very flawed, but that that doesn't mean I don't want the best for you. I don't want either of us to lie. Do you understand?"

Regina looked up, met his eyes, and nodded. "Yes, sir. It's because the kids at school make fun of me because they know I don't have a-," she cringed, "I-I mean, they knew that I didn't have a father. And they say that… it's because you didn't want me, so you left. And if you didn't know that I could exist…"

 _Then in your mind, the news of Integra being pregnant would shock me enough into fleeing, which would mean that I didn't want a child, which would make you a mistake._

"Well, you can tell the other kids to stuff it," Alucard said, offering her a wicked smirk. "Clearly they don't know the first thing about you, to have gotten it so wrong."

The warmth in her eyes and smile made every painful second of the last five years vanish almost instantaneously. She nodded vigorously.

"And, Regina?"

"Yes?"

"None of that 'sir' nonsense."

Somehow, her smile grew even wider. "Okay. Then in that case, can I call you something Mum taught me? She said you'd probably like it."

Alucard tilted his head a bit, curious. "What is it?"

"May I call you tătic?"

In hindsight, someone in the manor probably should have warned Regina that vampires cry blood.

 **So basically I really, really, really wanted fluff- and I really, really, really wanted this particular brand of fluff. I might write more chapters for this, and it MAY turn into a story, but I just had to post it because it's been sitting in my files for Lord knows how long and I thought I'd share it with you all. If I did write more I'd do something more with Integra, Seras, and the rest of the gang- but first and foremost I needed a happy ending for Alucard and this was the way I wanted to go about it. 30-year timeskip? I think not!**

 **...I did at one point have a story written about Alucard coming home to discover he had a 30-year-old daughter, though. But this one is just so much fluffier and so much better on my heart! The other one? MUCH more angsty, and with a more distrustful and cautious daughter who grew up to be the badass woman Integra would have raised, groomed to command troops and order deaths and take care of Hellsing after her mother passes. It was interesting because I also made it so that she had a son of her own, whom she didn't want "grandpa" to go anywhere near... but I don't think I'll be working on that one, so I probably won't post it. They reconcile, though- after way more time than this fic took. I'm not THAT masochistic. Love you all!**

 **Also, Regina's full name? Hell yes Seras gets a part of it. Big vampire sister ABSOLUTELY gets a part of it.**


End file.
